It would be interesting to see the XTAR 18650 2600mAh cell included which is supposedly Sanyo based. Perhaps also of interest would be plain unprotected Panasonic NCR18650 and NCR18650A as there has been some speculation regarding fake cells, so it would be good to have a reputable and accurate reference.
They *are* Sanyo-based (people on other forums opened it and disassembled the cell) and called XTAR 18700 2600mAh. Among my 18650 cells they are my most beloved ones. They are truely outstanding, with low self-discharge rate and long life.
Quality cells made by Sanyo (as are Eneloops made by Sanyo). Afaik they were already tested/measured on forums but if you want to repeat the tests with better equipment (i find the Voltage vs. time -graph very helpful), then i'd love to see the results, sure.
For 2 years I see people saying that they've heard the Panasonic NRC18650 or NRC18650A might be fake. So far I have not seen anyone showing any fakes. Probably there the wrong impression that a 2900mAh battery will get you 1 more hour on High with just 300mAh extra capacity and some started speculating.
HKJ, do you think it's important to do any break-ins (3 cycles) to the cells in order to get the maximum capacity or you do that already with your tests?
First question: Where do I get some NCR18650 where I am sure they are original?
Second: There is 2x2900mAh and 4x3100mAh protected cells planned for the test, is it necessary to include the unprotected cells also, especially if the above cells has nearly equal performance.
There is not supposed to be much (if any) difference with break-in for LiIon cells. The test sequence will be from low to high current, i.e. when doing the 3 ampere test they have already had 4 cycles (0.2, 0.5, 1, 2).
I am doing my (hopefully) last test run now and then I can start on the real test. The test will take a lot of time and I plan on publishing each battery when done.
The Flame TrustFire is not done yet, the cell I have been testing with is a year old, I have some new one lying around and they will be tested later on. They might even be the first cells tested, but that depends on when all the other cells arrives.
I have ordered RediLast 2600, 2900 and 3100.
Callies does only have 3100 and some 2250 high current cells, not 2900 cells.
What are you thinking on with "higher current TrustFire"?
And are the ebay cells from the intl-outdoor shop (They are in the mail).
A new batterie is in town - Spark built a protected 2600mAh (Sanyo inside) and presented now on their homepage. Maybe it is a good product for the test. Perhaps Spark offers you 1-2 free batteries for the test?
Which cells from intl-outdoor.com are you going to test? I just looked on their page and they have some very interesting cells there. I would love to see a test of all the Panasonic 18650 cells and both of the 26650 cells from MNKE and Kingkong.